Subsystem analysis
by Arielle1406
Summary: Walter finds himself asking hard questions about his relationship with Paige after a mission to save a civil engineer named David Fischer. Written as a two part episode of Scorpion from Walter's point of view.
1. Blueprints

"Walter!" Paige shouted in desperation. There was still no response, no sign that he could hear her. She kneeled in front of him and placed her hands on his face, hoping the physical contact would help. "Walter please come back!"

* * *

><p><strong>72 hours earlier.<strong>

"We've got a new mission" Cabe said as he entered the door to the cyclone. "So everybody saddle up."

"What's the mission?" Sylvester asked.

"A civil engineer for the LA metro system named David Fischer has gone missing and Homeland wants us to find out what happened to him."

"Not something we usually deal with" Toby said. "Why is this guy important?"

"There have reports of new terroristic threats targeting LA and the city council wanted to be proactive. They decided that all of the city infrastructure should be evaluated and the most likely targets given priority to be fixed. David Fischer was supposed to turn in his assessment 1.5 days ago."

"So if he was kidnapped, terrorists would have a playbook on how to exploit the metro system" Walter said putting his hands in his pockets. Cabe nodded.

"Exactly. This is a priority mission, so whatever needs to be done, do it. Our first stop is his house. Everybody get in the van and let's roll."

"Paige is still dropping Ralph off at school." Walter pointed out.

"Call her and give her the address. She can meet us there."

"No need" Paige called as she walked into the door. "I'm here."

Walter instinctively looked down at his shoes, and then brought his eyes up to look at Paige. He felt that familiar longing wrench his gut as he gazed at her silently before saying "hey."

"Hey." She met his gaze before turning her attention to the group who were furiously packing up and heading out to the van. "Fill me in on the way?" She asked Gallo.

After Cabe explained the situation to Paige she turned and silently gazed out the window. Walter found himself examining her and trying (unsuccessfully) to read her body language. How was she doing? What was she thinking? Ever since Drew had tried to take Ralph away she hadn't been the same. He counted fewer smiles, and she often seemed distracted. It was all over now and after a court order (accompanied by some choice words from Walter) Drew would never be coming back. But the damage had already been done. _If only I could have protected Ralph better_ he thought.

"Walter!" Cabe shouted. He blinked and realized he was still staring at Paige.

"What?" He glanced around and discovered the rest of the team was looking at him.

"Walter we're here. Are you ready?"

"Yes. Absolutely."

"Okay here's how it's going to go." Cabe said to the team. "It's not likely that we'll find anyone here that's dangerous, but I'll go in first and give you the all clear. Got it?"

"Got it." Said Happy.

The team waited in silence until Cabe said over their ear pieces "okay it's safe. Everyone can come in." Happy opened the door and jumped out, then Toby, Sylvester and Walter. He held out his hand to help Paige climb out the van.

"Thank you." She said looking at him.

"You're welcome."

It was a small house (about 1100 square feet) and two bedrooms. Everything was very clean, and Walter noticed that there were no creaks in the floors. The carpet and walls were all natural beige colors and the house smelled faintly of ozone. _Odd,_ Walter thought.

"Hey guys!" Paige called. "Can you come here?"

"What is it?" Asked Gallo.

"Look."

Walter looked where Paige was pointing, which was to a bedroom. Inside the bedroom had a small bed with a desk. The desk contained all different types of brushes, paints, pencils, charcoals and other art materials. The wall the desk faced was covered in art, and there was a stack on the dresser. There were also an assortment of different items, each with a unique texture and color adorning the bottom half of the other three walls. Toby came in.

"Oh wow."

"What are we looking at Toby?" Walter asked.

"There's a boy that lives in this room—most likely David's son—and from all the textures on the wall, I'd say he has severe autism."

"Why would textures on the wall mean autism Doc?" Asked Happy.

"Autistic children often have an overactive mind where sensations are amplified. While some colors and sensations produce negative reactions, others produce calming ones and peak interest and exploration. That would explain why the house is so clean and it smells like ozone. David keeps his house as clean and neutral as possible to help keep his son from having an episode, which is what indicates his son is more severe on the autistic scale."

"But this art." Sylvester said as he picked up a painting which consisted of only colors and no distinguishable shapes. "It's…" He faltered. "It's beautiful."

"How is it beautiful?" Walter asked impatiently. "There aren't any actual shapes."

"The colors communicate emotions Walt." Sylvester squinted at the painting.

"Yes that's right" Toby said. "This one suggests he was feeling secure and peaceful while this one" he picked up another painting "suggests he was struggling with abnormal surroundings."

"It's not just paint without shapes" Happy called out. "Look at this one drawn in charcoal. The detail on the face."

"That's not a random person" Gallo said. "That is David Fischer."

"Where's his son and what is his name?" Paige asked as she looked at each piece of art on the wall.

"Records show His name is Alex Fischer and he's about….9 years old. Seems David never picked his son up from school."

"Is Alex safe?" Asked Paige.

"Yes. Looks like after David didn't show up the school made some calls which is how we found out David disappeared. According to this document from Homeland Alex is staying with one of the teachers he can identify with."

"Well as interesting as this is" Walter interrupted "we still don't know what happened to David and we have yet to find any clue's in this house. The boy's safe so it's not our concern."

Just then Gallo's phone rang. "This is Agent Cabe Gallo." His eyes narrowed and a worried expression tarnished his face. "I understand. Thank you." He hung up the phone. "You guys aren't going to like this."


	2. To Downtown

"What was that about?" Walter asked.

"The teacher Alex was staying with found the room the boy was sleeping in empty and evidence of tampering with the window." Cabe said. "She says there was a special lock on the outside as well as the standard inside lock so Alex couldn't have gotten out on his own."

"So the boy was kidnapped meaning David Fischer was most likely kidnapped."

"I'd say that's a 93% likely scenario." Sylvester said quickly.

Gallo frowned. "Alright every one we need to move now! Is there anything else from his house that could give us a clue to as to David Fischer's whereabouts?"

"I found some blue prints of the train system" said Happy. "He's got some markings on there. Looks like it could be from the start of his evaluation project."

"Take them with you. We can analyze them in the van." Walter said.

"Got it."

"So we're done here" Walter said quickly. The team started running out the door. "Paige?" He called out.

"Be there in just a second." Walter heard her voice from Alex's room so he quickly walked over to find out what was going on.

"Paige what are you doing? We need to leave."

"I know that Walter" she said quickly gathering art supplies and putting them in her bag. "But this little boy has been kidnapped and is scared, and if we find him he'll need something familiar to help calm him down. " She paused. "We'll especially need them if we can't find his Dad." Walter nodded.

"You're right. I saw a blank page notebook. Did you grab that? It's underneath the stack of artwork." Paige stood up, lifted the stack of artwork on the dresser, removed the blank notebook and put it in her bag.

"Okay ready to go." Walter motioned for her to move out in front of him.

Once they were in the van Happy unrolled one of the blueprints of the transit system and began examining it. "From the looks of this David started his analysis where he thought the train system would be most vulnerable. He's marked both The red line and the purple line."

"Those are subway lines" Sylvester said nervously causing the team to look at him. "Not that I take them. They go underground."

Walter paused for a moment then said, "Subway makes sense. If a terrorist wanted to do a lot of damage the subway lines would give plenty of access to the city."

"Do we have any idea who could be planning an attack?" Toby asked. "Where did the information about the threats come from?"

"Threats were determined by Homeland because of fluctuations in the stock market." Cabe called from the driver's seat.

"Fluctuations? Isn't the stock market always in flux?" Paige asked.

"Yes. Not sure you guys are aware but business hasn't been good in Los Angeles for the past few years." Cabe continued. "Nothing has changed, but stocks for major companies have been climbing in weird ways that are inconsistent with economic fluctuations. Homeland has been looking for a pattern but so far has been unable to determine where the inconsistencies are coming from."

"Let me see if I can find a pattern" Sylvester said as he reached for his laptop.

"Good idea."

"The red line goes right through old Hollywood." Happy pointed. "Think it has anything to do with the stock market Sylvester?"

"In fact…yes. I just read through all the changes in the stock market and have determined that the most buying and trading of stocks has to do with the movie and TV studios."

"Movie studios?" Cabe asked. "How can you be sure the focus is on that?"

"While stocks for non-movie studio companies account for 1% of total stock sales, movie company stocks account for 1.5 percent. I think the other investments are there to draw away attention."

"And that .5% translates to millions of dollars" Walter added.

"According to this article" continued Sylvester "many movie studios are filming in cities outside the US where there it's cheaper and there are more incentives. In fact, by 2018 it's being projected that 70 % of movie lots will close here in LA."

"Ah-ha!" Toby exclaimed. "That's it! These longtime investors have decided to go out with a big bang to get a guaranteed return on their money. Rather than wait for the economy to slowly decay they've decided to take matters in their own hands. By inflating the stocks and selling them just before an attack their profits will be a sure thing. And it's a double whammy too. The investors can take that money and invest back in the oversees studios just before their stocks go up because of the attack."

"Sylvester can you take a look at which companies initiated the inflation?" Cabe asked. "It won't be enough to make an arrest, but it's a start. I also think we can assume the task of actually bombing the subway system was hired out."

"On it."

"I have a question." Paige said suddenly. "If they had David's analysis about weaknesses in the subway, why would they need to kidnap him?"

"Either they couldn't access the report, couldn't make sense of it, or the report is incomplete." Toby suggested. "In any case, they must have needed his expertise on something and grabbed him. And when he wouldn't talk…"

"….They grabbed his son as an incentive" Walter finished. "We need to hurry. If they grabbed Alex this morning it means the attack will commence soon. "

"Walter I think you're right on that!" Sylvester said as he wiped his brow with his sleeve and continued to type frantically. "Stocks for all the Hollywood studios are up another 5% from this morning. By my calculations the increase in stock value will taper off in….approximately 50 minutes and 3 seconds. As soon as they stop climbing the companies will sell all their assets and then the bombs will go off."

"We're approaching downtown!" Cabe shouted. "I need to know where to go."

"It doesn't look like there are any places on the red line that can support a staging area for something of this size." Happy said. "Best bet is that they would go here, to the 7th street station. That's got 3 levels underground with lots of rooms, access points and places to hide."

"Lots of surveillance though." Toby pointed out. "They wouldn't risk being caught on camera."

"If they had David, they probably used him to get around the gaps in the security system." Walter countered.

"7th Street it is." Cabe said as he violently turned the van.

"Got the investment firms!" Sylvester yelled.

"Good work" breathed Walter. "Who are we dealing with?"

" 3 companies here in LA, who are major competitors in the local stock market. They are Beeker & Sons, eInvestments and Crown financial. According to this, all 3 of their CEO's are not at work today."

"That can't be coincidence." Cabe said grabbing his phone. "I'll call Homeland for backup. We'll have to be discrete so we don't cause a panic."

"Since they are such fierce competitors no one would think they were collaborating with each other." Toby said shaking his head.

"Happy can you determine the likely places at 7th street station that could be a staging area for a terrorist attack?" Walter's mind raced through the repercussions of a successful bombing.

"Looks like our best bet is here" She pointed to the blueprints. "This is an older part of the station which has been closed off and can't be accessed from any of the normal tunnels."

"How would they get into that section of the station if it's closed off?" Cabe asked.

"Unknown. It's possible David opened it with a special security code or something during his inspection."

"Meaning they were watching him" Toby sighed. "Peachy."

"Okay we're here." Cabe said parking the van. "What's the play Walter?"

"The four of us" Walter motioned to Happy, Toby, Cabe and himself "will go in, find David and his son, determine where the explosives have been put in the subway, disarm them if needed and find the terrorists. Sylvester and Paige, you'll stay behind. We'll need you to determine the most likely terrorist groups who could have taken a job like this and watch the video surveillance feed for anything suspicious. Once these terrorists find out we're onto them they'll panic, and that's when mistakes are made."

"Let me know when you've compiled a list of suspects" Toby said. "I'll help narrow them down. You're looking for groups that are big enough to have the resources for an attack like this but small enough to be unnoticed by local authorities" He opened the van so everyone could get out.

Walter was just about to exit the van when he felt a small hand grab his arm. "Excuse me, but I'm coming with you." Paige said. He blinked hard to shake off the tension he always felt when she made physical contact.

"No you're not."

"Yes, I am. If that little boy is down there…and you can't find his Dad, who is going to calm him get him to safety? It has to be me Walter and you know it." Walter sighed. He didn't want to risk Paige's life again. He wished that he could send her somewhere far away where her and Ralph could be safe. Instead, Walter tried to reconcile his tormented feelings with what he knew must be done. "You're right." He said finally.

"I promise I'll leave before anything happens."

He nodded. "Okay."

"Be safe everyone." Called Sylvester, worry creeping over his face.

"We will" Walter said as he slid the van door shut.


	3. Through the Pipe

"Sylvester can you send Happy an updated version of the blueprints?" Walter asked over the coms. "We don't need David's notes and we'll attract attention if people see us carrying these hard copies." There were a few seconds of silence.

"Done."

"Thanks."

Happy discarded the blue prints in a local trash can and then took out her phone. "It's this way."

As the team waded through the crowd of civilians Cabe said in a low voice "give me a scenario where we have to evacuate the station. What are the odds that we'll be able to get most of these people out of he-."

"It's not good Cabe" Walter said talking over him. "We're still not sure exactly where the bombs are. Happy could probably give us a good idea after studying the blueprints, but it's still more efficient to get David since the terrorists are (presumably) going by his notes."

"It's also better because we have a chance of saving the lives of a Dad and son who are in trouble." Paige added. She turned her head and looked at him. Walter didn't have time to analyze what that meant, but he could guess she was disappointed in how he responded.

"Yes. Uh…that too." She shook her head and turned away. _Another wrong response?_ Walter thought. "So to answer your question Cabe" Walter continued "we'd have to know where the bombs are and if there are any at the station. They could have just planted explosives somewhere in the red line, or they could be planning to hit both the line and the station although that would mean a large quantity of bombs which seems unlikely given the fact this terrorist group has slipped under the radar and probably doesn't have very many resources so accounting for the variables and-"

"Just give me the worst case scenario son." Cabe interrupted.

"Worst case scenario. Uh…okay so worst case scenario is that they bomb both the red line and the station which means they would wipe out at least half the city. So no Cabe, even if we ordered an evacuation we couldn't get the people safely outside the danger zone which is larger because an underground explosion means more buildings will be structurally compromised. "

"Here's the first access point" Happy said suddenly. "Just give me a moment to bypass the security card scanner."

"How long is a moment Happy?" Cabe asked.

"A moment. We're in."

"You look so attractive when you do that" Toby smirked.

"and you look so dumb when you do that" Happy motioned toward his face, causing Toby to grin wider. Cabe shook his head.

"Let's just focus on the mission alright?"

Once the team got inside the first access point Happy lead them down a series of tunnels, opened another access door then stopped, looking at her phone.

"The sealed part of the station should be somewhere behind this wall, but these blueprints don't have the older section so I can't figure out exactly how to get in there. Hey Sylvester?"

"Yes Happy?"

"Can you send me the oldest set of blue prints you can find? The copy David had must have been older."

"Should be able to send it to you in just a minute."

"It all makes perfect sense." Toby said thoughtfully. "They must of known the newer blueprints didn't contain the older sections so they knew not many people could find them."

"Okay Happy, I'm sending it to you now."

"Thanks Sylv" Happy opened the new file. "According to this—"she said as she starting walking toward a giant red pipe which had a cap on the end "the pipe goes right through the open section we're looking for. Bet we could crawl inside."

Walter and Cabe looked at each other, then stepped toward the pipe to open the cap. Though it was heavy, the cap was attached to hinges and swung open easily and quietly.

"I'm going in first" Cabe said climbing into the pipe. Walter went in next. They crawled for 30 yards when Cabe suddenly stopped and looked back at Walter. "There a hole in the pipe" He whispered. "Looks like it leads to the spot we're looking for." Cabe began to move slowly, taking out his gun and loading it. As soon as he stuck his head out of the opening to get a better look a shot went off. "Everybody back!" He shouted.

"Well, at least we know we're in the right spot" Toby shrugged.

"What's going on over there?" Sylvester yelled in everyone's ears. "Guys?"

Walter heard men shouting at each other "Let's go! Grab the boy for protection."

Cabe swung out of the pipe and started running. By the time Walter dropped out of the pipe Cabe had already moved across the room, just out of reach of someone in a mask dragging a little boy.

"You let him go now! Surrender!" Cabe shouted in his gruffest voice. The man pushed the little boy into Cabe, causing them both to fall. Walter was still running, but he knew the man would get to the door the others must have escaped from. Just as he reached Cabe the man had punched in a code and was gone.

"Happy!" Walter shouted.

"Right behind you!" As soon as they got to the door she took out her tools and started working on bypassing the system.

"Damn it! They double encrypted the code and rigged the door. I can get through but it's going to take longer."

"Keep working Happy. Maybe we can pick up their trail" Walter breathed. He turned to see Alex run to a corner, slide to the floor and start hugging his knees.

"He's got a gag on" Cabe said taking shallow breaths. "I couldn't get it off before he ran away."

"Toby search the other rooms and hallways. See If you can find David Fischer." Walter suggested. Toby nodded and ran off.

"Will everyone please be quiet?" Paige said softly as she was walking slowly towards Alex. "You're making a lot of noise." Walter opened his mouth to say something, but thought better of it.

As soon as Alex saw Paige, the little boys eyes got wide and he attempted to back further into the corner. She stopped and said "It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you. I have something of yours." Paige pulled the blank notebook out of her purse, which caused Alex to stop. She took a few more steps then very carefully sat next to him. "I brought these pencils" she said taking some out of her bag "which are yours too. If you let me untie your hands you can draw with them." Paige reached out towards Alex, causing him to pull away. Paige paused a moment and then did something Walter never expected. She began to sing. It was a soft, beautiful melody intended only for Alex but could still be heard as it echoed across the concrete. Walter closed his eyes and swallowed.

The melody seemed to amplify everything good about Paige and it gave Walter hope. Maybe, just maybe they all would arrive safely home tonight. _And maybe_….he opened his eyes. Alex seemed to have relaxed a little and Paige was untying the chords which held his wrists together. Once they were free Alex began to claw at his face, desperately trying to get the gag out. Paige gently pulled his hands away and untied the gag. She wiped the tears from his face and said "There. Everything's all right now."

Alex looked at her and grunted. He crawled over to her lap and began touching her face which caused Paige to smile. He ran his fingers through her hair, traced her cheekbones and ran a finger over her eyelashes. Then he sat in her lap, grabbed his pencils and notebook and started to draw.

"That's the most amazing thing I've seen all day" Cabe said under his breath. Walter nodded. Just then he heard two sets of footsteps running from the far side of the room. It was Toby with a man who Walter knew was David Fischer.  
>"Alex?" David called.<p> 


	4. Start from the Beginning

"Alex!" David stopped running when he saw his son sitting with Paige on the floor, but only for a moment. As soon as Alex saw his Dad he clapped his hands together and started beaming. David knelt down and pulled his son into a tight embrace. "Hey buddy! I'm so glad you're safe. I missed you." There was a choke in David's voice as he lifted Alex off the ground. As he turned to face the team there were tears in his eyes which threatened to spill out. Walter looked away. Seeing a man emote so strongly was unsettling.

"Thank you" He said kissing Alex's head. "Thank you for saving Alex. Who are you?"

"We're Scorpion." Toby said.

"I've heard of you." David carefully placed Alex back on the ground so he could continue to draw. "I'm glad you're here. There isn't much time."

"Where's Happy?" Toby asked. The team looked towards the door she had been working on, which was opened. "We need to find her."

"Relax Doc." Happy said coming back in. "I was hoping I could figure out where those guys went, but there are too many service hallways to know for sure." Toby visibly breathed a sigh of relief.

"Start from the beginning David." Cabe said. "Tell us what happened."

"As I'm sure you all know, I was tasked to find any areas in the metro rail system that would be vulnerable to terrorist attack. When I received my assignment from the city it seemed urgent so I started with the most logical place for an attack." David motioned to the rooms around them causing everyone to nod in agreement. "After I completed my analysis I knew that there were some serious problems, and they needed to be taken care of right away. If explosives were to be placed at strategic spots on the red line, 1 city block could be completely wiped out from a collapse of the tunnel, and if this station were to be hit, it would take out 5 city blocks."

Toby whistled.

"I had transferred the data from my tablet to a flash drive when I was finished. They must have been watching me because I was on my way out of one of the service tunnels when two men grabbed me. I knew I had to do something to get rid of the flash drive, so as they were trying to secure me I dropped it down a grate."

"That was really brave of you." Paige said. Walter turned to look at her for a second and frowned.

"It was just luck, but thank you." David continued. "The odds of me standing over something I could drop the flash drive down were pretty small."

"5% chance." Sylvester said over the coms.

"After they had realized what I did the men were furious. They took me here and started threatening me. Threats turned into demonstrations…" He paused. "Back in 2003 I was in Afghanistan doing engineering work for the army and was trained on how to withstand torture, so the methods they were using weren't effective enough. This morning the men told me they had grabbed Alex." David paused for a moment and then continued. "They told me if I didn't give them the information they would torture Alex in front of me and…" He choked, looking down at Alex who seemed to be in his own world. "I knew we wouldn't live if I gave them the information, but I couldn't stand the thought of him being tortured. I…I told them I would help them."

"And did you?" Walter asked.

"I gave them different information than what was on the flash drive. If they placed explosives where I suggested there would be damage, but not as much. It didn't work. They knew somehow I hadn't given them the correct information and announced that they would be bringing Alex in. Before they could do that a 3rd man came in saying they had located the flash drive."

"How is that possible?" Cabe asked.

"I don't know." David said. "The likely scenario is that the grate I dropped the flash drive down was ventilation for one of the lower level hallways and not water runoff like I had hoped."

"That's probably what happened" Walter agreed.

"They packed up and a few minutes later I heard shots."

"Is there anything else you can tell us about the terrorists? Were there any more than the three you mentioned? What did they look like?" Cabe asked.

"I only counted the 3 men, and they wore ski masks so I couldn't see their faces. They also spoke perfect English."

"Only 3?" Happy said furrowing her eyebrows." They must have more people than that."

"Maybe. But they were careful to limit my interactions. I do know they are planning to hit both this station and the red line, so we don't have much time. I will tell you where the bombs are and then I'll help you locate them ."

"Happy can you bring over the tablet?" Walter asked. She nodded and walked toward the rest of the group.

"The best spots to put bombs in the red line are in these places." David marked them. This accounts for total collapse of all the tunnels."

"We know that the terrorists are targeting Hollywood in an effort to upset the stock market." Walter added.

"In that case, best place to start is the Studio City stop. Accounting for that, I'd change the scenario to this." David erased some of his markings and put fresh ones. "As for 7th street station, it's all going to be in the 3rd level." Walter nodded. The situation was looking pretty grim. If as many bombs needed to go off as David suggested, he wasn't sure how they were going to find them all in time.

"There's a chance they haven't gotten a chance to place all the bombs, so we need to cut them off while we still can." Walter said. "How long until backup arrives Cabe?"

"They just arrived and are standing by for orders."

"Okay. Happy and Toby, you head to Studio City and start looking through the tunnels. It will be faster if you drive there. Paige and Alex can go with them. David and I will head down to the lower levels. "

"I'll meet up with Homeland and brief them on the situation then send half the team through the red line and half through the station." Cabe added.

"Fastest way for everyone to get where they need to be is back through the pipe and to the main area of the station" Happy said looking over the blueprints.

David turned to look at Alex and said "Hey buddy. We're going to leave now, and the way we have to get out is through the red pipe. It's a little dark in there, but I'm going to be with you." Alex started shaking his head violently. "Listen, You've been so incredibly brave today. I just need you be brave for a couple more minutes. I know you can do it. Come here and I'll carry you." Alex allowed David to pick him up and they started walking to the pipe. Paige picked up the art supplies, paused when she looked at Alex's drawing and then silently put it in her bag.

As soon as the team was out of the other side Walter and Cabe sealed the pipe by putting the cap back on and securing it so someone from the other side couldn't open it.

"I want to thank you for grabbing Alex's art supplies" David said to Paige as they walked through the tunnel. "That's probably going to be the only thing stopping him from having a meltdown."

"You're welcome. We were at your house trying to look for clues when we got the call that Alex had been taken. We could see how important drawing was to him from the pictures in his room so I figured it would probably help if we found him separate from you."

"You were right." David paused for a moment. "I saw Alex drawing in your lap. He…he doesn't connect very well to people he doesn't know. I'm…I'm just really surprised."

"Well, I have a son that's…special. He's just special in a different way from Alex."

"Ralph's special in the literal sense because he is a genius which account for only 2% of the worldwide population" Walter interrupted.

Paige turned toward Walter with a horrified look on her face. "Walter!"

_Did I say something wrong?_ Walter thought. "I was just stating a fact."

"Well, that was an incredibly insensitive."

"It's okay." David said graciously. "I understand what Walter means."

Walter felt embarrassed. He hadn't meant to appear insensitive, he just wanted David to understand that Ralph wasn't disabled, but enabled. He decided to distract himself by calculating how many steps until the team went their separate ways.

"Okay this is it." Happy said when they reached the middle of the first level. "David take my com, I'll get another one from Sylvester when I get back to the van."

"Thanks." David said taking the com and putting it in his ear.

"Watch each other's backs." Cabe said nodding towards the team and heading off.

Walter looked at Paige and motioned for her to come close.

"What is it Walter?"

"After you drop off Toby and Happy I want you to drive the van back to the cyclone. The coms we're using are linked to a satellite, so there isn't any reason for you to stay. You'll be safe there and you can look after Alex."

"But what if….what if you need someone to come and get you in the event…."

"We won't be able to get out in any case, so there's no point in risking your life to stay."

"Walter. I…" She paused unable to hold his gaze. "I wish you didn't have to do this."

"I know." Walter found himself putting his hands on her shoulders. "But it will be okay." That was a lie, but he had to say something.

"Come back safe." She whispered. Walter reluctantly let go of her.

"Alex" David said putting him on the ground. "I've got to do some work." Alex began to shake his head violently and moan. "Listen to me buddy. I won't be gone very long, and Paige here is going to be right next to you. Is that okay? She brought you your pencils. I know you like her." Alex leaned into his father. "I love you Alex." He kissed his son and then turned him toward Paige who lifted him up.

"We'll see you guys soon." Happy said.


	5. An Old Friend

"Let's go this way" David suggested to Walter as they made their way through the crowds. The two men walked next to each other silently. Even though David had numerous bruises on his face and a split lip Walter could see that David had the dimensions of someone that most American females would find attractive. Perfectly cut blonde hair, hazel eyes and a physical build which had more muscular tone than his own. Walter felt annoyed by this, but he knew he shouldn't be.

"You're enabled aren't you?" Walter said suddenly.

David smiled. "You mean my intellect? Yes."

"Your recommendations about optimal damage for the explosives in the Subway were too precise for you to be anything else. What is it?"

"145. Not anything too impressive."

"Why didn't you mention it earlier?"

"Well," David said thoughtfully "Ever since it was discovered that Alex had severe autism, I didn't want to talk about it in front of him. He may be non-verbal, but he can understand quite a bit. As he got older, it became less important and now it's not something I typically think about."

Walter was shocked. "But when you're enabled you can do things no one else can do. Don't you want to keep pushing the limits of your intellect?"

"I do, and I know I should Walter. But having Alex, well, priorities get shifted." He smiled to himself. "Having a job where I work the same hours every day is really important, which limits my options as to what field I'm in. But I usually spend most of my spare time thinking about ways to help Alex. If I can make his life a little easier I know my intellect was well spent. I know you understand that. You could be hiding in a cave somewhere thinking up a theorem which would give you a lot of prestige in the scientific community, but ultimately you know it makes no difference in the practical world. So instead you started Scorpion. "

Walter nodded as he thought of his team and Megan.

"Walter I haven't been able to find any terrorist organizations that match the parameters we need." Sylvester said over the coms.

"Surprising. What do you think Toby?"

"Could be that there are several independent explosive makers who were hired to do this one job. "

"Sylvester search the criminal database for people with a history in black market explosives. If these guys are from independent backgrounds then there needs to be someone in charge, otherwise it would just be chaos." Walter responded.

"We're here" David said as he swiped his card.

Walter and David made their way to a spot underneath the lowest track level. "This is interesting." David said. "There should be an explosive here, but I'm not seeing anything."

"Do you think we beat the terrorists here?"

"It's possible, but I'm not that optimistic." Walter agreed.

"Just sent the first group into the red line tunnel" Cabe said. "I'll let you know if they find anything."

David and Walter climbed their way to the next location. "Still nothing."

_Something's wrong._ Walter thought. "David if the terrorists had fewer bombs, where would they have to put the lynch pin?"

Walter waited for him to speak, recognizing the face David was making as a calculation in progress. "They would have to hit the alternator. The alternator sends power to the third rail, which in turn powers the subway cars. We can take a short cut if we squeeze through some pipes." Both Walter and David sprang into a jog as they made their way through the service tunnels. "It's through here" David said as he pushed his body through two large pipes. Walter did the same. What he saw when he got through made him stop dead in his tracks.

"uh….Walter?"

"Yes Happy?"

"Toby and I heard your conversation so we also headed for the alternator. Are you seeing the same thing we're seeing?"

"Yes."

"What are we looking at?" David asked. "I've never seen anything like it."

"No one has."

"What's going on?" Cabe asked. "Talk to me Walter." Walter took a step back to look at the mass of wires coming out of the control box next to the alternator. There must have been hundreds, all the same color looped into different sections and then hooked into another box with an antenna sticking out of it. The mass of wires looked like chaos, but Walter could see beyond it to a cold, calculated manner underneath the surface which sent an involuntary shiver up his spine. There was a complex pattern to the madness of the wires which said _F__or you, Walter_.

"We've got a major problem!" Paige said breaking Walter's concentration and snapping him back to reality.

"What is it Paige?"

"It's Alex he…"

"Is he okay?" David asked involuntarily.

"He's fine. But, he started another drawing and….He must have seen the terrorists because he drew one man pointing a gun and 3 other faces. Walter. It's…"

"Collins?"

There was a moment of silence. "How did you know?" Paige asked finally.

"He left me a message in the pattern of the wires."

"Say again?" Cabe said over the coms.

"He's playing a game with me. He planned for all of it." Walter said.

"Who is this guy?" David turned and looked at Walter.

"He used to be on our team, but after some…complications I had to let him go."

"'Complication's' is an understatement. One time Collins nearly caused a nuclear meltdown." Sylvester said.

"Sylvester run the pictures Alex drew through facial recognition. Maybe we can spot one of them in the station. They couldn't have gone far."

"Scanning. Okay I've got something!"

"Tell me where to go Sylvester." Cabe said.

"Middle platform, subsystem 2."

"Is it Collins?" Happy asked.

"No." Walter and Sylvester said at the same time.

"Collins probably isn't here." Walter shook his head.

"It's one of the other men Alex drew. Cabe I've sent his picture to your phone."

"Happy can you tell us anything about how he hardwired this thing?" Walter asked.

"Walter this is very sophisticated work. It looks like he's manipulated the wires so the alternator will feedback electricity. Every time a train comes by it feeds electricity back into the system." Happy explained. "As soon as it reaches overload capacity all Collins needs is to open a conduit for the stored electricity. It will overload the entire grid from you to us which will cause a massive explosion."

"Could there be any more of these wire traps in the subway?" Walter asked.

"No. It looks like he only needed two of these to complete the circuit. But Walter, unless I take out the wires in a certain order I could risk overloading the system prematurely."

"How could he have set everything up so fast?" David asked.

"Easy." All of scorpion said at the same time.

"Probably took him 5 minutes." Sylvester said.

"I've located the suspect" Cabe said. "We're going to take him down." Walter held his breath while he heard shouting in his ear and what sounded like Cabe punching someone. A few moments later Cabe said "We've got him. We're moving him to a secure location."

"We need to figure out if the system is at capacity. If it is, disarming this mess won't do any good." Walter said talking fast. "We'll have to stop the conduit from being opened by locating where the broadcast signal is and turn it off before the signal goes to the control board."

"I know where to go to get a reading on the electrical system." David said turning to leave.

"I'll head up to where Cabe is. There are some questions that need to be answered." As Walter began to make his way out of the tunnels all he could think about was what Collins' end game was.

_For you, Walter._


	6. The Game's Afoot

Walter stood with his hands in his pockets over the man Cabe brought in and looked at him without blinking. The longer he stood there, the more nervous the man became.

"Good Walter. Now just walk a little closer to him" Toby coached. Cabe had set up a live feed in the room they were interrogating in so Toby could watch from his phone. It had been decided that Walter should talk with the suspect since he knew Collins best. "Slam your fist on the table and then yell. He should be good to go after that." Walter did exactly as Toby suggested, causing the man to jump. Walter smiled inwardly.

"Now you're going to tell us everything!" Walter yelled. "We know about the stock market manipulation, we know that at any moment this whole place is going to blow when a conduit is opened up and electricity overloads the system. And we know who is behind all this."

"Excellent Walter! You've got him right where you want him. Pull up a chair, sit down and continue keeping eye contact." Walter did so.

"Okay okay. The man said nervously.

"What's your name?"

"Jackson."

"Uh huh."

"Look. I was approached by a guy because of my black market explosives background, and he said he had a job which would make me millions. I've been clean since getting out of prison, but no one would hire me and I needed the money."

"Is this the man that contacted you?" Walter showed him a picture of Collins.

"Yeah. That's the one. Crazy as hell."

"His name is Mark Collins. Why do you say that?"

"He muttered to himself a lot, kept calling us idiots. He would often say 'he'll love my surprise. Just wait until he gets my surprise.'"

"Was he talking about me?" Walter asked.

"I don't know. Like I said, he was crazy."

"How did he get in contact with the stock brokers?"

"I don't know. I only knew about what I was supposed to do, which was to get a man named David who worked for the subway. This David guy had subway plans that we were going to use as a guide to place the explosives. But I never set anything up. Collins just, disappeared."

"Do you know where the broadcast signal is?"

"No I don't."

"You do realize that this whole place is going to blow if you don't help us take Collins down."

"Look, I already said I wasn't told that information. But If I had to guess, it would be somewhere close, high up so the signal could reach the other station." Cabe came in and motioned for Walter to come outside.

"Walter he's telling the truth. He doesn't know anything and my guess is the other guys don't either" Toby said over the coms.

"Sylvester keep scanning the surveillance feed for the other guys Collins hired. We still need to catch them in any case."

"So why grab David if it was all a sham?" Cabe asked.

"Because he knew that taking a civil engineer who was tasked to look into possible terrorist attack scenarios would interest Homeland." Walter shook his head. "It was his play all along. He wanted me to be on this case, and he calculated for every step."

"Walter there was just a huge change in stock market sales. They are skyrocketing. I think Collins has moved up the time table. He must be monitoring what's going on. We've only got 10 minutes left!" Sylvester shouted. Walter and Cabe locked eyes.

"David what's our status on the energy readings?"

"I'm just getting there now Walter. Give me one second."

"We don't have a second!"

"I can't look this up any faster. Okay I've got it. There was a false output reading on the computer to make it seem like everything was normal. It's bad Walter. The system is at maximum capacity. It can go at any time."

"Can we just shut the station down?" Cabe suggested.

"No." Walter said firmly. "These stations have reserves in the event of a power outage. Shutting it down would just turn on the emergency backup generators which will divert the power and cause the explosion."

"Happy? Where would Collins have put the signal that is going to open the conduits?"

"He needs a stable building close enough to the tracks."

"Try the Standard LA Hotel" Toby suggested. "It's tall enough, one block away and nobody asks questions about who is going in and out of the building."

"Thanks. Happy, Toby, take a look on your end and figure out if there is a backup signal."

"I'm coming with you" Cabe said to Walter.

They both ran as fast as they could, the time ticking in Walters mind. _7 minutes left_ he thought when they got to street level. By the time they made it to the hotel another minute had gone by_. 6 minutes._ "National Security!" Cabe said waving his badge "Hold the elevator!" Walter was out of breath but he could feel the adrenaline take over his system.

"Happy? Any luck with finding a backup signal?"

"No Walter. Toby went to look at the roof of the station since there aren't a lot of high buildings here. I'm looking at the wires trying to see if I can reroute the power. Maybe if we can't stop it, we can still keep the stations from blowing up." _5 minutes._

"Okay." The elevator opened and Walter charged out, Cabe close behind him. They ran towards the stairwell and pushed through the emergency door which lead to the roof. Walter immediately saw a satellite dish with a computer hooked up to it.

"That must be it!" He shouted to Cabe.

"Do what you need to, I'll stop the security guys from interrupting you."

He touched the computer pad, which promptly booted it. Complex computer code scrolled across the screen. Walter deciphered it and put together the message.

_Hello Walter. Are you ready to play a game with me?_ More numbers flashed. _Don't think about unhooking the computer, or trying to hack this program. Everything will blow up if you do._

Walter wrote back in the same code _Mark where are you? You've got to stop this. Nothing is accomplished by putting everyone's lives at risk._

_No questions or you'll mess with the programming. Anything else you type other than the correct answer will result in the conduit being opened. _Walter understood then that Collins wasn't actually on the other end, he had just accounted for everything Walter would say.

"I've found the source of the signal. Collins has written a computer program with questions I have to answer. If I get any of them wrong it will result in the system overload." Walter could feel sweat bead on his forehead.

"You've got this." Paige said calmly. Her voice gave him the extra push he needed to focus_. 3 minutes._

_Shall we begin? _

Walter typed as fast as he could in response to every question Collins had for him. They ranged from dates, names, and formulas to his knowledge on radio signals. Each formula, each question became more difficult. _2 minutes_.

_Very good Walter. Now for the final question._

"Final question!" He said out loud.

_What was the day your life changed?_ Walter stopped. He wasn't sure what Collins was getting at. There were so many significant days. The day he hacked NASA, the day he decided to create Scorpion, the day he sent Collins away, The day Cabe came back into his life the second time, the day Megan got diagnosed. Somehow, none of it made sense. _1 minute._

"One minute!" Sylvester said.

Suddenly, Walter knew what the date was. It was the day Ralph and Paige came into his life. He wasn't sure how Collins knew that, but it was the only thing he could think of. He paused for just a moment, and then entered the date. The computer when blank, then more code scrolled across the screen.

_Thank you Walter. Here's your reward. Until next time. _

"It's over." Walter breathed.

On the computer several files popped up, all having to do with how the stock market was manipulated and who was involved.

"Collins gave us everything."

"What do you mean?" Happy asked.

"The guilty parties in the investment firms, recordings, emails, files. "

"Why would he do that?" Cabe asked.

"I won the game."

"We're heading back to the garage. I've secured a ride for us. Happy, Toby, we'll pick you up."


	7. Art has Meaning

"What are we going to do Walter?" Happy said as they were on their way back to the garage.

"Unknown at this point. Clearly Collins has something else in mind, or he wouldn't have given us all that information. I don't think we'll be able to find him until he decides to make another move."

"Like Chess." Sylvester said over the coms.

"Yes, exactly like chess."

"Do you think it will be soon?" David asked.

"Maybe. Maybe not. This took a lot of planning on his part, so I think we can assume that he won't be up to anything in the near future."

"That seems likely" Toby said "but it is Collins so we can't be too sure what his next move is. He's a loose cannon."

The team sat in silence. _What have I done?_ Thought Walter.

When they arrived at the garage they found Sylvester busy typing on his computer with Paige sitting next to Alex as he drew. David walked over and hugged his son.

"Hey buddy. I've missed you." Alex clapped his hands together. "I'm really proud of you. You're a hero because you drew those people." Alex smiled, then continued to draw. Paige got up and stood next to David.

"Thank you for taking care of him today Paige."

"It's no problem. We had a nice time."

"It gives me hope to see him connect like that."

"I'm guessing his Mom isn't in the picture." She said sympathetically.

"No she isn't. It's hard being a single Dad."

"I can understand that."

"His Mom and I were married for a few years before we had Alex, and things were really great. When he got diagnosed with severe autism, she couldn't handle the pressure of taking care of him. I tried staying home with him while she worked so she could still pursue her career but it didn't work. She left abruptly when he was 3 and has never been back since."

All of a sudden the door to the garage opened and Ralph came in.

"Hi Ralph! Did you thank Mrs. Hudson for giving you a ride?" Paige asked.

"No."

"Well go outside and tell her thank you." Ralph turned around and went out the door, only to return a couple moments later.

"Is this your son?" David asked.

"Ralph this is David. He helped us with the case today."

"Hi."

"It's nice to meet you." David smiled. Ralph went over to greet the other members of scorpion.

"His Dad left too." Paige said turning back towards David "He came back last year, but…it wasn't a good situation. He tried to claim scorpion was a bad influence and Ralph's life was in danger. The court almost sided with Drew, because the work we do here is pretty intense, as you saw today."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"It's been an adjustment for Ralph. He doesn't react well to change."

"Neither does Alex."

"I've been wondering what- Ralph what are you doing?" Paige looked over at Ralph who had sat next to Alex. He took one of the pencils and drew some shapes on the page. Alex looked at Ralph, then back at the shapes. He clapped his hands, obviously delighted, and then drew a picture of a hummingbird. Ralph smiled.

"We're playing a game." Ralph said.

Walter had been feeling really uncomfortable with the conversation between Paige and David, but now he wanted to see what was happening.

"Ralph's using shapes to communicate a formula" Walter said in genuine amazement. Those shapes represent how fast a hummingbird's wings beat per minute. Ralph picked up the pencil and drew a different series of shapes with lines. Alex studied it a moment, and then smiled when he understood. He drew a large wind turbine.

"I've never seen anything like this." David said.

"Ralph doesn't connect very well to other kids" Paige said. "They must….understand each other." Team Scorpion watched in amazement as Ralph and Alex communicated in their strange way. Finally David broke the silence. "Paige, would you and Ralph like to have dinner with Alex and I? We don't get out much, but we'd love to cook for you." Walter felt his heart stop. Paige looked at Ralph, then back at David.

"Hey Ralph? Would you like to go to Alex's for dinner?"

"Okay." Ralph said continuing to draw formulas.

"I—we'd love to."

"Is it okay if you drive? I was going to get a cab back to my house but…"

"Of course! We'd be delighted." Paige turned toward the rest of Scorpion "See you guys on Monday?"

"I'll let you know if we hear anything about Collins" Cabe said. "But otherwise yes." Walter watched Paige go, his stomach sinking. She turned and gave him a wave.

"I'm thinking I want a beer. You all want to join me?" Toby asked. Happy and Sylvester said yes, but Walter was in no mood to celebrate.

"No thanks. I'm rather tired." After everyone had left the garage Walter noticed a paper sticking out where Alex was sitting. He walked over to the couch and unfolded the paper. What he saw took his breath away.

It was a drawing of Paige, but not an exact picture. She was set against a black background, with her hair reflecting multiple colors. In her eyes he saw all the love and kindness she was capable of and her smile radiated joy. He thought back to earlier in the day when Paige was looking at Alex' notebook and remembered her facial expression.

_This must have been what she was looking at _he thought. As Walter looked at the picture he felt his emotions stirring within the deepest part of him. All at once he understood what art truly was. Art wasn't just a picture of something; it represented how the artist _felt_ about something. This was how Alex saw Paige after she had come and sat by him, and interestingly enough, Alex saw a lot of the same things Walter saw in her.

_Did he leave this for me on purpose?_ Walter wondered as he walked upstairs.


	8. Down the Rabbit Hole

Walter sat on this edge of his bed and looked once again at the picture. He put his hand over it and traced the lines Alex had so carefully drawn of her face. He found himself wishing that Paige hadn't gone with David, but instead had stayed with him. He knew that David and Paige had a lot in common and their sons had obviously created some kind of friendship. So why was he so upset? He carefully folded the picture back up and set it on the floor.

Immediately Walter opened his mind and his surroundings began to fade away. No longer did he see the wall in front of him, but the equations that brought him stability. Each one he was familiar with passed by him as he began to go deeper.

The snowflakes adorning her hair. The familiar smile she often flashed him with. Here in the rabbit hole that insatiable feeling which often wrenched his gut was right before him, unable to be suppressed. It was his passionate longing for Paige.

_Deeper._

"I don't care! Normal people save everyone."

_Normal people. Normal people save everyone. Normal people, normalpeople._

_DEEPER._

_PaigeIsNormalButHasAHigherEQThanMostOtherNormalsWhichIsWhyShe'sSoPatientWithRalphAndWithMeEvenThoughICan'tProcessEmotionsVeryWellAndPaigeGoesThroughAlotWithDrewHavingLeftAgainAndBeingASingleMomAndDealingWithAllOfUsSheNeedsSomeoneTCconnectWithWhichIsWhySheConnectedWithDavidBecauseHeUnderstandsToSomExtentWhatSheGoesThroughAndDoesntNeedSomeoneToExplainItToHimUnlikeMeWhichIsWhyINeedPaigeToHelpMeUnderstandNormalPeopleAnd…._

_STOP._

_I need Paige. Yes, I've always known that which is why I hired her but…._

_ButINeedHerInSoManyOtherWaysClearlySheMakesMeABetterPersonAndShe'sOneOfTheFewPeopleI'vBeenAbleToConnectWithAndICanHelpHerWithRalphWhichIsSomethingNoOneElseCanDoButOtherThanThatWhatDoIReallyHaveToOfferHerSinceICan'tEmoteLikeANormalPerson..._

_CONCLUSION. I can't take care of Paige because I can't emote like a normal person. _He thought of all the times his lack of emotional quotient disappointed her, how his brash statements like earlier today about Alex reinforced just how clueless he was.

Only down in the Rabbit hole, deep within himself did he see things so perfectly clear. Only here did he understand what he felt, but more importantly, how to feel it. In the real world things were so much more complicated.

Walter could feel his heart pull him back to one of his most treasured moments that he had shared with Paige. At once he smelt her perfume, felt her back underneath his hand and was once again dangerously close to her lips.

"Do you know why genius' can't dance? Because we have two left Brains."

"Walter did you just make a joke?" He laughed with her. "Not too bad for my first joke."

"Not bad at all. You're funny you know."

He leaned and whispered in her ear "It's a lie. I can feel. I want to feel. Please understand I need you Paige. I want to take care of you. All of you."

Paige looked up at him, her eyes shining. He leaned in, his lips tingling with anticipation….

She was gone.

_POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS. _

_IneedToLearnHowToEmoteLikeANormalPersonInOrderToTakeCareOfPaigeButICan'tDoThatWithoutPaigeIamGettingBetterButIfWantToStopHerFromConnectingWithDavidFurtherThanI'llNeedToBeAlotBetterSoonerButAccordingToPatternChangesInMyBehaviorIWon'tBeAbleToBeforeTheInevitbileComesAndShe'llFindHapinessWithSomeoneElseButIfIWasNormalThisWouldn'tEvenBeAnIssue_

Walter.

_For all my genius, for how hard I try, I'm still not good enough to take care of Paige._

Walter.

_I'm not normal enough. I can help her with Ralph, but until I am better at this being with Paige isn't an option. After everything she has gone through she should be taken care of. _

WALTER!

"Normal people save everyone!" _I did try and save everyone Paige. I always try to save everyone. I wish I could just tell you that._

WALTER!

He felt something wet on his face with something else soft and warm covering it.

"Oh god. Walter! Please come back. Please. Walter!"

At once his surroundings reappeared and he found that Paige was kneeling in front of him with her hands cupped on his face. He blinked.

"Walter?"

He tried to stand up, but his muscles were so stiff he ended up collapsing on the floor. Paige held onto him, her delicate hands wrapped around his chest.

"I'm fine." He muttered.

"Oh Walter. Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine." He said louder. When Walter looked up from the floor he saw his entire team standing in the doorway.

"You went down the Rabbit hole Walter." Happy said angrily.

"30 hours, 15 minutes, 3 seconds by my calculations." "Walter…" Sylvester faltered "What happened?"

"I…I saw a tear. Was it about your sister?" Paige asked softly. Walter nodded, too embarrassed.

"I'm fine. I just need a minute."

The Scorpion team reluctantly filed out with Paige giving him a couple of glances on her way out. Only Toby remained.

"I know you're lying. Whatever that was about, it wasn't about your sister. I think we should talk."

"I just need a minute."

"Walter I can help. I know this is serious."

"A minute Toby!" Walter snapped.

"Alright fine." But before Toby walked out the door he turned about and said. "But Really Walter. I can help."

_"No you can't"_ thought Walter despairingly.


	9. Out of the Frying Pan

When Walter came down the stairs he saw his team silently standing around waiting for him. "I told you I'm fine. Now will you all please stop looking at me like that? We have a job to do, and that is to track down Collins."

"Homeland hasn't been able to find anything" Sylvester said.

"Then we look harder" Walter snapped. He instantly regretted it, but nothing could be done now. He was longing for some peace and quiet to continue sorting out what had happened in his mind over the past 30 hours. Coming to terms with his _limitations_ wasn't easy, and he still wasn't sure what to do with all the new information. Now that his longing for Paige had been brought to the surface, it was producing an ache in his chest he couldn't understand.

_Focus!_

"Happy and Toby I want you to look at the data Collins sent us about the things he did to set up the attack. Obviously there are going to be sections of it that he put in there just to throw us off, but we still need to determine his pattern of behavior. Sylvester, look for dark web chatter."

"Okay Walter."

He could feel Paige looking at him from across the room. He needed to make himself appear busy so he logged on to the dark web.

"Walter?" He jumped when he noticed Paige standing in front of him.

"Do you need something?" He found himself unable to make eye contact. It was…_painful._

"I'm just worried about you, that's all."

"You don't need to be."

"Maybe you want to talk about it?"

"Talk about what?"

"Your sister. Did you get more bad news? Is that why you…" Walter paused for a moment, then remembered what she said upstairs.

"Oh. Um….I'm busy right now so we can talk about it later."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"I'm here for you Walter" she said putting her hand on his arm.

"Okay." He still refused to make eye contact and she turned around to leave. He inwardly winced, and decided to try and say something. "So um…you and Ralph."

"What?" She asked turning around.

"You went to dinner?" She paused for a moment.

"Oh! Yes we did. On Friday."

"Did you….have fun?"

"We did. Thank you for asking." There was an awkward pause.

"So…um, what did you do?"

"Well, Alex and Ralph came up with a few new ways to communicate with each other which was amazing to watch. And David and I just talked for a while. We talked about the difficulty of finding a school that's suitable for our children, their inability to make friends, being single parents. It was good. I think we'll do it again sometime soon."

It was too much. "Okay thanks for the update."

"Thanks for the update? Walter…"

"We need to focus on getting Collins so, maybe we can talk about this later." He turned away from her, indicating that he was done with the conversation. She lingered for a moment and then slowly walked away.

Walter decided to run some complex equations through his mind to try and temper his emotions and slow his heartbeat. He really did need to focus on finding Collins. Whatever game he was playing, Walter was certain that many more lives were at stake.

"Toby, what's Collins getting at?" He called across the room.

"Revenge. Pure and simple. The nuclear reactor was him trying to prove his worth to the team, and you rejected him a second time. If he did set up that whole thing on Friday just to prove a point to you, he's crazier than even I would of thought. He'll do anything, which makes him extremely dangerous."

"I've already alerted Homeland to the situation, but so far nothing has come up." Cabe said. "We had dozens of people working on it over the weekend, but they weren't you guys. Let's do what we can to get this under control." His phone began to ring so Cabe took it out of his pocket to answer. "Agent Cabe Gallo."

"How did he even get out again?" Happy asked. "Did he just escape or what?"

"Looks like…he was able to swipe a key off of someone and impersonate at janitorial staff. No one noticed." Sylvester said.

Toby shook his head. "That psychiatric ward should be ashamed of themselves. If you've got a patient who's as smart as Collins, a lot more precautions needed to be put into place."

"Alright, Homeland has already been to Collins house and secured it" Cabe said hanging up. "Walter they say that there is something that you should see."

"Just Walter or all of us?" Toby asked.

"Just Walter. They think it has to do with the computer program he had to use on Friday."

"Update me as soon as you have some information" Walter said to the team as he was closing up his laptop. "We shouldn't be long."

* * *

><p>As Walter sat in the van headed toward Collins house he was grateful for a few minutes to continue sorting out his mind. He was used to categorizing his thoughts into boxes, which made him so efficient during a crisis. He only ever thought about one thing at a time. This was why he didn't ever want to have strong emotions, because they made everything so complicated. <em>The problem is<em> he thought _I'm becoming a better person because of them. Because of her._ Walter decided that he would do whatever it took to protect Paige, even if it was from his own awkward, blundering self.

"Can I ask you something?" Cabe said to Walter.

"You will regardless."

"That's true." He paused. "So how are you doing kid? Couldn't help but notice that you seem…distracted."

Walter remained silent.

"Look. I know how important she is to you and I know that you're…hesitant. Believe me, I get it. But Walter, if you keep acting this way you'll lose her entirely. And I know that's not what you want."

"What do you mean, how I've been acting?"

"You haven't looked her in the eye since this morning. And if I've noticed, she's noticed."

"Everything is perfectly fine."

"Just think about what I've said, okay?" Walter looked out the window, and knew that Cabe was right. He would do better next time.

"We're here." Cabe said pulling up the van.

Once they were out of the van and Cabe had verified they were who they said they were Walter proceeded towards Collins house. The first thing he noticed was that all the satellite dishes were gone.

"Cabe did Homeland take Collin's equipment?"

"Negative. Everything is as they found it."

"This is unusual. Collins is used to things being the same, like me. He wouldn't just pack up his stuff and move it."

But once Walter went into the basement he saw that Collins had packed everything up. It was all gone. The papers, the notebooks, the tapes and his timeline of dates. It looked as if no one had been living in the house for years. Walter immediately felt worried. If Collins had decided that his home was no longer important, than his instability was even worse than the team had imagined.

"Walter this is what Homeland wanted you to see." Cabe motioned to a desk with 6 neat papers on it, full of a complex equation. "They couldn't make heads or tails of it."

Walter stared at it for a while, and realized that there were several equations interspersed with one other which when put in the right order made up an equation which could be translated into a message.

"It's another message. Can you get me a pen and paper?" Cabe did so and Walter began re-arranging and solving until he had a complete message.

_Round 2 Walter. Are you ready? This one is especially for you. I can't wait to see the look on your face, pal._

"Well, what's it say?" Cabe asked.

Walter handed him the paper.

"That's not good. Is there anything else here that might give us a clue as to what he's doing?"

"I don't think so. Collins removed everything that was here. He knew we would come which is why he left me this message."

"We need to coordinate with the team and see what they've come up with. From the sound of this, we don't have much time."

* * *

><p>Once back at the cyclone Walter filled the rest of the team in on what he had seen and the note Collins had left for him.<p>

"Walter this is extremely personal. I know I said that earlier, but we're dealing with a major fixation on Collins part. He wants you to feel something. You rejected him twice so my guess is that he wants you to feel the loss on the same level he did." Toby's eyes widened. "He's going to go for whatever he thinks is most important to you."

"Where's Paige?" Cabe asked suddenly.


	10. New Neighbor

"Where's Paige?" Cabe asked again. Walter looked towards her desk and saw she wasn't there.

"She… got a call that Ralph was sick and left to go pick him up." Happy faltered.

"Tracking her car GPS" Sylvester said quickly. "According to this…she's…still here." The team looked at each other for a brief second and ran outside. They found Paige's car where she had parked it this morning.

"Oh no." Toby said. "Ralph."

Cabe was already on the phone. "Confirmed? Okay thanks. Invoke baby blue bird." He hung up. "According to one of my agents Ralph is still at school. We'll be taking him to a secure location after his classes are over."

"One of your agents?" Sylvester asked.

"Last year I assigned Ralph an agent who would tail him and take him to safety in case anything bad happened. The agent is the classroom assistant. He confirmed Ralph's location."

"You put an agent in charge of watching Ralph and you didn't tell us?" Toby asked.

"You didn't need to know. And to be honest, you genius' are terrible at keeping secrets. I didn't want Paige to perceive my precautions as a reason to be worried."

"That's true I am terrible at keeping secrets" Sylvester admitted.

"We know" the rest of the team said at the same time.

"Here's her cell phone" Happy said picking it up off the pavement. "Collins must have tossed it because he knew that we'd track it."

Walter felt his stomach turn into a knot. _Paige what have I done to you?_ He thought. Walter looked around hoping (though he knew it was pointless) for any sign of her. When he looked up Walter suddenly saw something in the upstairs window of the adjacent warehouse. He immediately recognized the object as a satellite dish from Collin's tower.

"Do you guys see it?" Walter said pointing to where he was looking.

"That looks like Collin's satellite dish." Happy said. The team ran toward the building, opened the door and climbed up the stairs.

"This building has had a 'for lease' sign for the past 6 month and 3 days" Sylvester said. "Could someone really been using the space?" They came to the top floor which was locked.

"Happy" Walter said stepping out of her way. She quickly worked her way through the lock and opened the door.

When it was opened Walter saw that the top floor had indeed been used by Collins. There were papers, cassette tapes, satellite dishes and a twin bed. By the window that faced the garage there was listening equipment hooked up to a recorder.

"He was watching us?!" Happy said, the disgust evident in her tone.

"And listening to us. Look, it's the recordings of everything we've said to each other for the past 4 or 5 months." Toby said picking through the tapes. "No wonder he's been one step ahead of us."

Walter shuttered and felt anger and guilt rise within him. _This is all my fault._

"Why would Collins think that Paige is the most important thing to Walter?" Sylvester asked. "He only met her once.

"It makes perfect sense." Toby said jumping in before Walter had a chance to react. "Back in the reactor Walter told Collins that there was room for one more person on the team which is Paige because she binds us together. Collins sees her as being more valuable than him because, in his mind, she replaced him. Therefore she is the logical choice. Also, she could be more easily subdued."

Happy punched the table she was standing by. "I swear if I ever see him again I'm going to ring the life out of him."

"You and me both." Cabe said. "We need to figure out where Collins has taken her. Everybody head back the garage. Let's start tracking satellite coverage and see if we can pick up their trail." As team scorpion quickly filed out of the room Toby stopped Walter before going down the stairs.

"I'm fine." Walter said before Toby spoke.

"Involuntary tremors in your left hand indicate that's a lie." Walter put his hand behind his back. "Walter, this isn't your fault. You couldn't have known Collins was going to do this."

"I could have and should have."

"No, you shouldn't."

"I didn't protect her." He murmured, too low for Toby to hear.

"Believe me, I'm worried sick about her. But this is personal remember? Collins won't do anything until you are there. He wants you to feel his loss." Walter felt his hand shake more violently.

"Take a deep breath and then meet us at the garage. The more clearheaded you are, the better you'll be able to solve the puzzle."

"We don't have time for that." Walter said circumventing Toby and racing down the stairs.

Once Walter walked back into the garage he found Sylvester hard at work on his computer. "It isn't good Walter. I can't find any footage in our time frame for any of the cameras in the garage or street camera's in a 2 mile radius.

"He must have blacked out the cameras." Happy said.

"Looks like that's what happened." Sylvester nodded as he continued to type. "Department of Transportation is indicating a power surge from faulty wiring for the traffic cameras. He only needed a few minutes to get over here and get out before they rebooted the system."

"So our only chance to catch him is to figure out where he went." Walter said. He closed his eyes, determined to figure out where Collins had taken Paige as soon as possible. _Down we go_ He thought.

"Why them and not me?"

_Deeper._

"There was room for one more. Paige."

_Deeper._

Walter opened his eyes to no longer see the garage in front of him, but Mark Collins. All their projects, their time together and the endless possibilities such a mind could achieve. He berated himself for not paying more attention to Collin's personal life. He probably could have figured it out without coming down here if he was more observant.

Paige popped in his mind despite his best efforts to concentrate. His heart lurched at the sight of her and he wished could physically reach out. "Why didn't you protect me Walter?" She said. "If anything happens to me, you'll never forgive yourself. And Ralph won't either."

"I'm sorry" he whispered.

_Focus! _

_IknewThisWouldHappenIfICameBackDownHereINeedToFindCollinsThinkAboutColllinsThinkAboutCollinsWhereWouldHeHaveGoneWhereWouldHeHaveGone…._

Immediately a memory came to mind.

"Where were you?" Walter asked Collins as he came into the garage.

"Oh you know. Out and about."

"Out and about? We have work we have to do."

"Relax Walter. Sometimes you just need to clear your head so you can get focused. That's what I do."

"And where do you clear your head?"

"Well if I tell you it won't be a secret anymore."

"Collins! You are late and I need a logical explanation."

"Geeze Walter calm down. Everyone here has their little project they work on and I've got mine."

"Which is…."

"Well if you must know, I am working on something at an abandoned relay tower in Calbasas."

"Where?"

"Oh you know, off of the Backbone Trail. I work on my radio projects there. You can see the city, and there isn't anyone annoying to bother you" Collins said looking at Happy.

"What's that supposed to mean?" She said angrily.

"You aren't very nice to newcomers."

"Well be that as it may" Walter said "we do all of our separate projects here. From now on work on whatever you have in the garage. I can set up a place for you."

"If you insist Walter. But you should get over there sometime. It's quite nice."

WALTER!

He blinked and was back in the garage.

"You've got to stop doing that!" Happy said raising her voice.

"I know you're upset, but I know where Collins went."

"You do? "

"Yes." He grabbed a pen to write on the white board. He wrote _Collins might still be listening _"I think" he said out loud "Collins decided to head back to the nuclear reactor. That's where it all took place." Walter wrote on the board _there's an abandoned relay tower off of the Backbone Trail. He used to go there. _

"Makes sense" Toby said, obviously playing along. "We know that he went in from the North and crossed the boundary of the power plant. There isn't anyone around for miles."

"Exactly." Walter scribbled on the board. _Get new van. Ours may be compromised_

"Copy that" said Cabe. Let me notify Homeland and get some backup." He got out his phone and texted.

"We can create a specific plan of how we're going to handle this once we are on our way."

"Homeland wands to escort us to the power plant. They will be here in 2 minutes." Cabe said. "Grab whatever you need and let's be ready to roll."


	11. Into the Fire

No one dared speak until they were clear of the garage and everyone seemed to be doing their own version of calming repetitive motions. Happy fumbled with a socket set, Toby rolled a pair of dice through his fingers, Sylvester played with his Rubik's cube, Cabe drove more aggressive than usual and Walter calculated. Walter calculated equations that were almost too complicated to do by memory because anything less wouldn't calm him and he still couldn't get his hand to stop shaking.

"So what do you we do Cabe?" Toby asked when they had driven far enough away.

"If this is personal, he's going to want Walter alone but he'll still expect to see the team. Collins might believe the team split up to look for him, but he certainly won't believe that Walter came all by himself. So the plan is all of you (except Toby) will go with Walter until Collins says otherwise. Toby and I are going with Homeland to find a vantage point where we can watch. If all goes well, we'll have the sniper…disable Collins."

"That sounds risky" Happy said. "What if you can't get a clean shot?"

"That's what Toby is there for. We'll be on coms and it will be Walter's job to lure Collins out in the open. Toby you'll advise Walter on the best way to do this.

"I don't like this plan" Sylvester said frowning. "Paige could get hurt."

"Unfortunately we don't have time to set up anything else. The clock is ticking. Collin's will wait, but he won't wait forever and analysis suggests he may do something rash if he sees government surveillance."

"I'd agree with that" Toby said.

"Alright. We're about 1 mile from parking. Toby and I are going to get out here." Cabe said pulling the van to the side of the road. The team put the coms in their ears. "Walter take two and put one in each ear. He'll probably ask you to take out the coms but we still need to talk. Happy you drive." She nodded and climbed into the driver's seat.

"Let's bring Paige home safe" Cabe said sliding the van door shut.

Happy parked the van and the rest of the team silently climbed out. It was about a 2 mile hike to the abandoned relay station and the day was hot. Walter hadn't considered changing before they left, so his light blue button up shirt quickly soaked through with sweat and his expensive shoes obtained a layer of dust. About a half of a mile from the relay station Walter noticed a small camera mounted to a nearby tree. He walked up to it with Happy.

"Looks like we came to the right place" She said examining it. They found a piece of paper on the back of the camera which said

_I've been watching you since you got out of the van. The team must remain behind where I can see them in the camera. If you try and trick me, I'll know._

"I'm surprised the message wasn't encoded" Sylvester wondered.

"Watch your back Walter. We'll be right here if you need us" Happy said as she placed herself in front of the camera.

Walter took a deep breath and walked the rest of the way up to the relay site. It was fairly large with 3 full levels with platforms, enclosed with chain link fence and covered in graffiti. No matter what happens he told himself Paige has to live. He walked up to where there was a hole in the fence.

"You can stop right there" Collins said from behind one of legs of the relay tower.

"Collins where are you?"

"Oh, right here" he moved out from behind the concrete support block (dragging Paige with him) and stood between the two pillars and underneath the cement platform. She was a little bruised, but otherwise unharmed. Walter locked eyes with her and felt relieved she was alive. She looked surprisingly calm for having been abducted. "Did you get all my messages?" Collins grinned at Walter.

"Yes."

"Of course you did! That's because you're smart. Unlike everyone else. No one could have figured out my code except for you. Your little stunt back at the Garage was clever Walter, but I still knew you would come."

"What stunt?"

"That whole 'we're going to the Nuclear power plant thing'. Where's the rest of the gang?"

"What do you mean?"

"Toby and Cabe?"

"We split up because we still weren't sure where you were. They went to power plant."

"Uh huh. Walter take the com out of your ear." He did so. "Toss it over here." Walter hesitated, then did as he was asked.

"And the other one."

"What other one?"

"Don't lie to me!" Collins shouted, tightening his grip on Paige's arm. She winced.

"Okay. Here." Walter took it out and got ready to toss it.

"On second thought, you keep it. We can all talk to each other this way." Collins picked up Walter's ear piece and put it in his ear.

"Hi everyone. Isn't this fun? Happy? How's the trail looking?"

"I swear I'm going to wring your neck Collins!" Happy shouted.

"Oh please." Collins rolled his eyes.

Walter was getting impatient. "I'm here. What do you want me to do Mark?"

"Do? Oh I don't know. I was just having so much fun that I didn't quite think this part of it out. I thought I'd wing it. See how we're feeling and go from there."

"Mark you're sick. You need help."

"I need help?!" Collins shouted again. "Why Walter it's you who needs help! You're the one that likes it. Let's face it. You had fun on Friday. The chase, climbing through pipes, playing my little game. You're bored all the time and I'm the only one who can help you reach your potential! With me around you get to engage all your brain." He flashed another sleazy grin.

Walter said nothing, knowing that on some level Collins was right.

"See! You can't even deny it."

"I don't enjoy you hurting my friends" Walter said seriously.

Collins face grew just as serious. "Ah. Well, nothing is perfect" He paused for a moment. "You know I have you to thank for this Walter. I had an idea of who was the most important, but I wasn't positive. I needed an experiment to make sure. Thanks for telling me."

"What do you mean I told you?"

"Come on Walter!" He said loudly. "You're a genius. Figure it out." Walter went through his thoughts until he had an answer.

"You set up…that whole thing on Friday…."

"Yes yes keep going! You're on a role."

"….to figure out which date I would put into the computer program?"

"Bingo!" Walter's heart sank. He should have known better.

"Collins, nothing is accomplished by doing this. Let Paige go and I'll do whatever you want."

"On the contrary, everything is accomplished!" Collins said wild eyed. "You've never known what it's like to lose something important. Why would I let Paige go? You won't learn your lesson if I do."

"Mark I'm sorry that I hurt you," Walter took a step towards the fence "but can't we talk about this? Why don't you meet me halfway?" _Homeland is never going to get a shot off if he doesn't come out of there_ Walter thought.


	12. Paige?

"Don't you dare come any closer!" Collins yelled frantically. He reached behind him and took out a gun which Walter could only suppose had been stuffed in his pants. "And don't apologize to me! It's too late for that!"

"What's happening?!" Sylvester shouted over the coms.

"He pulled a gun" Walter said, panic threatening to rise in his chest.

"Of course I did Sylvester. " Collins retorted. "Now will you please shut up? I'm trying to concentrate."

"Walter…." Paige said as a tear spilled down her cheek.

"Paige it's going to be alright" Walter said, trying to believe it.

Collins furrowed his brow and glared at Walter. "It's not going to be alright, and you know it. Tell me Walter! Tell me she doesn't mean anything to you. Tell me that it's not thoughts of this…this…_normal _that keep you awake at night."

Walter remained silent knowing Collins would perceive a lie.

"See! You're throwing your potential away. And I can't understand why Walter so try to explain."

"You can't understand." Walter said slowly. "Because you don't know her the way I do."

"Wrong answer!" Collins pulled Paige's head up to his and put the gun on her temple and loaded it. She winced again and let out a whimper. "You disappoint me."

"Collins! Don't do this!" Walter shouted, his voice going horse.

"It's your fault Walter. You could have prevented this if you had just decided to reach your potential. Now you'll lose us both."

"Walter…" Paige said, tears now streaming down her face. "Take care of Ralph for me?"

"No!" He shouted. _It can't end like this. I was supposed to protect her._

All of a sudden a shot went off. It came from behind Walter's right shoulder and immediately both Paige and Collins went down. Walter's heart stopped.

"Paige!" He began to sprint toward the opening in the fence. "Paige!"

"What do you see Walter?" Happy yelled frantically in his ear.

"Both Collins and Paige are down. We need a helicopter!"

"Already on its way" Cabe said.

Walter reached them to discover they were both laying in a pool of blood. He blinked furiously as tears started forming. "Paige?" She looked up at him and furrowed her brow, obviously confused. "You're alive." He wiped tears from his eyes, unable to suppress his emotions and relief. "But the back of your head is bleeding. It's just a graze from the bullet." He helped her sit up and tore some fabric off his sleeve, carefully wrapping her head.

"What…what happened?"

"It was Homeland. They were going to take Collins out with a sniper but obviously couldn't get a good enough shot so they went for his hand." She turned her head to see but Walter put his hand up to block her view. "Don't look. It's pretty gruesome."

She nodded. "Ralph?"

"Safe. Cabe got an agent to take him to a secure location."

All of a sudden Collins woke up and started screaming. His hand was completely shattered by the bullet. Walter grabbed the gun Collins had been holding and pointed it at his chest.

"You're never going to hurt her again" Walter said firmly, the gun shaking. He felt Paige's hand on his own.

"Don't do it Walter. He isn't worth it."

"He almost killed you."

"I know. But killing him like this won't be good for you. Please don't." Walter paused for a moment and decided that however justified he felt in killing Collins, it wouldn't be worth the disappointment he would receive from Paige.

"Okay." He lowered the gun but then hit Collins over the head knocking him unconscious.

"Thank you." she whispered. As Walter carefully wiped Collin's splattered blood off Paige He felt an overwhelming urge to kiss her. _It would be so easy._ But he resisted by turning his gaze away from her lips. More than ever Walter was convinced that the only way to keep her safe from himself and others was to let her go.

"Paige!" Happy called as she sprinted across the field and ducked through the hole in the fence. "Are you alright?" Walter was grateful for a distraction.

"I'm fine. Dizzy though…"

"Keep sitting up. Looks like you got grazed, but it's not too bad."

Walter heard the sound of a chopper overhead.

"Your ride is here" Happy said forcing a small smile. "We'll help you up." Paige tried to stand but collapsed into Walter's arms.

"I'm sorry." She murmured. "I'm just so dizzy."

"You don't need to apologize Paige" Walter said picking her up. She was so light and delicate. As Walter walked toward the chopper his senses were reeling. In addition to the adrenaline which had been pumping through his body for the past 3 hours he now held what was undoubtedly the most important thing to him. The thing he had nearly lost. _Never again. She won't ever be hurt ever again._

"Walter O'Brian?" The medical tech asked as he jumped off of the helicopter.

"Yes."

"We're here to take Paige to a medical facility. Is the terrorist alive?"

"Yes, but he's unconscious." The man nodded to the other techs who quickly ran off to grab Collins. "You'll be safe at the hospital" Walter said looking at Paige.

She looked up at him. "Aren't you coming with me?"

"I…can't."

"We could take another-" the technician started to stay before Walter cut him off.

"No, I can't."

"Please don't leave me" She said choking on the words as he placed her in the helicopter.

"It'll be better this way."

"Please." But he had already turned around and walked away, not daring to look back as the helicopter lifted off.

"Why didn't you go with her?" Cabe asked coming up from the trail.

Walter suddenly felt tired and alone. _I couldn't_ he thought.


	13. Better Together

Walter slowly walked up the stairs to his apartment. The events of the past couple of days were almost too much for him to comprehend, but he needed to find a solution to the problem he was faced with. How to both protect Paige and still be involved in Ralph's life. Paige depended on the paycheck Scorpion gave her which in turn allowed Ralph to be involved in special programs which challenged his intellect.

_If I fire her then she'll go back to being a waitress which isn't good for her or Ralph. Also, how will the team manage to keep it together without her? We could do part time and not allow her to come on missions. No, she wouldn't stand for that. _

Walter outwardly sighed and noticed the sun had gone down. He had already been thinking about this for some time but still had not come up with an ideal solution. He needed a distraction so Walter took Cabe junior out of his cage and started to hook up the wires to run another experiment.

"Walter?" He froze. It was Paige's voice. _She's already released from the hospital?_

"I'm busy right now."

"We need to talk."

"I told you I'm busy."

"No you're not" she said wearily. Somehow she had made it from the doorway to his side and put a hand over his. The contact made him freeze up, and he let go of Cabe junior who went scurrying through the maze. He looked away unable to make eye contact.

"Walter. Look at me." She placed a hand on his chin and directed his head toward her. He saw something in her eyes. Some emotion he was unable to read. _A normal person would know_.

"Are you angry with me?"

"What? No…."

"Do you no longer wish me to be around?"

"No, it's just—"

"Then why won't you look at me?" Her eyes glossed over.

"I…" He faltered. Lying was pointless, but the truth….He couldn't tell her the truth. He simply didn't know how.

"You've been alienating me." He could see the tears forming in her eyes. "And you might not understand, but it hurts me deeply."

_No._ Walter felt a lump rise in his throat.

"Please tell me, what's wrong?"

Silence. He didn't have enough EQ to keep having this conversation. He simply couldn't get the words out. But He knew that he had failed. Failed in protecting Paige and succeeded in making her more miserable.

_Why do I have to be so inept?_ Paige studied him for a while, forcing him to hold her gaze.

"I don't know if I can keep working like this" She said as tears began to freely flow.

Even though Walter had just been contemplating how to keep Paige a safe distance from himself and harm he didn't want her to leave. Not like this. He became acutely aware how he was still holding onto her hand as she turned to go. _Do something! _He squeezed her hand. She stopped and looked at him.

"Don't go." He whispered. "Please." Walter took a few steps to close the gap between them and kept talking. "I'm sorry." He said hoarsely, choking on every word. "I…can't."

"You can't what?"

"I can't do this."

"I understand. Your EQ is maxed out and I should leave."

"Without you" He blurted. He had to make her understand that it wasn't anything she did or was doing. He took a deep breath and attempted to steady his voice. "I can't do this…scorpion. Without you." It wasn't what Walter had intended to say to her, but he knew it was true. If he ever sent Paige away the company would cease to exist.

The tears stopped. "If that's true," She said slowly "then why are you treating me this way?" He inwardly moaned, unsure if he could continue.

"I…It's…it's not you." He turned his eyes away, unable to say the words while looking at her. "It's…it's me." The truth was finally out, and it felt surprisingly good. "I can help you with Ralph, but the rest of it. I can't. It's me. I don't…I can't." Still holding his hand, Paige took a step closer, causing his heart to palpitate. 145 beats per minute he calculated.

"Oh Walter."

"And I know…I know what you need."

"Do you? I don't think you do" She said quietly.

"You need to get a safer job and…someone to take care of you. I…" His voice broke. Whatever was happening, he knew that he wasn't in control anymore. Something was spiraling up out of the deep. _If I tell her now, I won't ever have to explain it again. _"I don't have…" He swallowed. "Enough EQ to take care of you. I'm not…normal enough."

"Walter" She said so quietly he could barely hear her voice. Without averting her gaze she took his other hand. "If you knew what I needed you wouldn't say that."

_What does she mean?_ He wondered.

"I need you."

"But…David!" He gasped.

"What about David?"

"Dinner. You and him….I saw…"

"Whatever you saw Walter" she said gently "it wasn't what you think. Yes, David and I…have similarities. And it helps to talk one parent to another. But…" She bit her lip. "Walter you are incredibly special. I know your limitations and I know your limitations aren't like normal people. But I know you try." She placed her head on his chest. "And...I need you. Don't you understand Walter? I feel safe with you." He didn't understand. "Put your arms around me and hold me. Like this." She guided his arms so he held her in a tight embrace. "This" she whispered "is where I need to be. Don't you agree?"

"Yes" He mumbled.

Walter closed his eyes and decided to memorize every sensation of this moment. How small her frame felt, the tickling of her hair on his chin, the rapid beating of his heart and how truly vulnerable she was. He squeezed her just a little tighter as he felt a small tear escape his eye.

Emotions were powerful entities.

"Paige" He said unwrapping himself so he could look down at her. "I…I want to take care of you. But…"

"No but's Walter. Not today. Don't worry. I'll help you."

"But…you shouldn't have to explain the basics to someone."

"I already said this is where I need to be" she said hugging him. "Please don't send me away."

"What if I hurt you?"

She looked up at him again. "Every relationship has risks. And you probably will hurt me, and I'll hurt you. We're human, not perfect. But fear can't control us to the point where we won't allow ourselves to explore the possibility of what we could achieve. Because we're already better when we're together. Because of that we can work through anything. Do you think we're better together?"

"Yes."

"Then why would we try to be apart?"

"We wouldn't."

"Exactly" she whispered leaning her head on his chest. Walter sighed and put his arms around her again. It wasn't a sigh of exasperation, but a sigh of release. He sighed away his fear that he couldn't have a meaningful relationship. He sighed away his fear that he wouldn't be able to take care of Paige. He made a mental note to research relationships later.

For now he knew that he needed to do something to reciprocate everything she just said. He needed to make her understand just how amazing and brave (yes brave) for giving him a chance. He took his right hand and tilted her face upward. As Walter looked deep into Paige's eyes he felt a sudden calm settle over him. He leaned down and brushed her lips with his own.

He felt her tremble against him and paused for a moment, wondering if he should continue. Paige brought her arms up and wrapped them around his neck pulling his face back down towards her. As they kissed Walter found both of his hands gripping her hips, unsure of how they got there. He loved the feeling of her body against his and the sweet smell of her perfume. This was different, and it was going to be different.

Suddenly Paige's phone buzzed causing them to pull apart. For the first time Walter noticed the bruises on her arms and the gauze which had been taped to the back of her head.

"Hello?" Paige said into the phone. "Yes Cabe. Thank you very much. I'm at…the garage actually. Yes that would be perfect. I'm doing…better now" She said looking at Walter. "Thanks." Paige hung up the phone and flashed Walter a small smile.

"Cabe is bringing Ralph over to the garage."

"Okay." Walter couldn't help but feel disappointed. He desperately wanted to spend the evening with his arms wrapped around Paige, savoring every moment. But no. There was time for that later. He smiled. "Are you hungry?"

"Actually, I'm starving. I haven't eaten anything since yesterday morning."

"Dinner?" Walter asked holding his hand out to Paige. She took it.

"I'd love that."

Walter kissed her on the side of her head before they walked down the stairs to go wait for Ralph.

"Better together?" She whispered.

"Better together."


	14. Author's Note

**Author's Note**

Thanks everyone for sticking with this story and reading/reviewing. I didn't want to set any of the chapter's up while I was writing, but I had to take the opportunity to express my gratitude. I wasn't sure how some of the chapter's would go but it seemed like most everyone knew what I was trying to accomplish, especially with the rabbit hole chapter. That was really encouraging!

I discovered Scorpion while it was on winter break and fell in love! I was really impressed with how much character development there was over the course of the first 12 episodes. It really inspired me to dream up a story involving the characters, including Collins. I really hope they make him a regular. He could be Walter's Moriarty.

So thanks for reading, i'll see you sometime soon.

-Arielle


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